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Northwestern University

Design Research Cluster

Co-sponsored by the McCormick School of Engineering and The Graduate School, the Design Research Cluster brings together interdisciplinary faculty and PhD students from across Northwestern to advance research in three core areas: human-centered design, computational thinking and design, and design skills and methods. 

In the Design Research Cluster, researchers seek to understand and design the relationships between technology and society, and lead research efforts focused on high-impact complex problems including information access, personalized health and well-being, income inequality, online privacy and security, and life-long learning. 

Design Cluster Fellows and Faculty, Spring 2025

 

Design Research Cluster Overview

The Design Cluster is not a degree program. Doctoral students participate in the Design Cluster through their faculty advisers and receive PhD degrees from their home department. Those interested in pursuing a PhD degree need to apply to the PhD programs with whom their faculty adviser is affiliated.

In the Design Cluster, PhD students do the following:

The Design Cluster also organizes social events, seminar series, and research symposium featuring Northwestern faculty and students and researchers from other institutions and industry.

2024 - 2025 Cluster Fellows

Molly DeBlanc

Program: Media, Technology & Society

Studying: Collaboration, sensemaking, and joy in physically integrated dance where one or more of the dancers use wheelchairs as part of their creative practice

Fun fact about you or your research:
After a brief attempt at ballet, the only dance classes I’ve taken were in classical Mongolian dance.

Hasti Darabipourshiraz

Program: Computer Science

Studying Designing interactive, hands-on experiences that help children and novice learners understand AI by making complex concepts—like supervised learning, knowledge representation, and bias—tangible and engaging through museum exhibits, creative tools, and interactive interfaces.

Fun fact about you or your research:
I often turn my interests, like drawing, pizzas, and sandwiches, into creative ways to teach people about AI!

Charlotte Li

Program: Technology & Social Behavior

Studying: how technologies are created/used & in journalistic settings. Currently, I am investigating ways generative AI is incorporated & assessed in newsroom contexts.

Fun fact about you or your research:
I used to work as the subject of my current research.

Will Liem

Program: Health Sciences Integrated Program (HSIP)

Studying: participatory approaches to developing an AI system to support sexual orientation and gender identity development with queer teens.

Fun fact about you or your research: I was an extra on Fifty Shades of Grey since they were filming at my undergrad campus! 

Aidan Fitzsimons

Program: Technology and Social Behavior

Studying: How adolescents are using general-purpose LLMS to write about themselves in settings like the college application process, and in response to this reality, how to design participatory-led intelligent coaching support systems to better support adolescent self-concept development with high school students, nonprofit groups, and university admission offices.

Fun fact about you or your research:
I have been known to sleep outside for months in exchange for basketball tickets.

Kristin Fasiang

Program: Computer Science + Learning Sciences

Studying: How students' sense of belonging in computer science is shaped by collaborative learning interactions. 

Fun fact about you or your research:
I planted a whirlybird seed when I was 5 years old that is now a 40-foot tall maple tree.

Lexie Zhao - Advanced Design Cluster Fellow

Program: Learning Sciences

Studying: The intersection of playful learning, learner agency, and equitable participation, especially in informal learning environments such as museums, and afterschool clubs.

 

 

Leadership

The Design Cluster is led by the following individuals:

Curriculum

The Design Cluster’s interdisciplinary curriculum covers three core areas:

  1. Human-centered design
  2. Computational thinking and computational design
  3. Design skills and methods

Learn more about the Design Cluster curriculum

Who Should Apply?

Students interested in joining the Design Cluster should apply to join upon their arrival on campus. In the past, doctoral students in the following doctoral programs have actively participated: Technology and Social Behavior, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Learning Science, and Theater and Drama. However, we are open to all scholars interested in design.

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